Thursday, September 19, 2013

I have a feeling I'm in the extreme minority in saying the following, but I'm going to say it anyway: yesterday's out-of-nowhere Wii Fit U Direct broadcast has me feeling pretty jazzed.

Now, I'm one of those weirdos who've been interested in Wii Fit U, which will hit the eShop on Nov. 1 and store shelves on Dec. 13, since it was first announced--due mainly to the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed both the original Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus--so I guess it shouldn't be too surprising to hear that I'm looking forward to owning the Wii U iteration, too.

As for why I'm "jazzed" about it, though: that can be pinned on the fact that I completely forgot--until watching the aforementioned Wii Fit U Direct, of course--that this version will make use of a special Wii Fit-branded pedometer that will track and display all sorts of important information (from steps taken and calories burned to time, temperature and even elevation).

Oh, and it features a pixelized representation of your Mii. Which I think is kind of cool.

As excited as I am about the possibility of having a pixelated Mii strapped to my hip all day, every day, I'm far more excited at this point about the Wii U game that was revealed at the tail end of this latest Nintendo Direct: Wii Sports Club.

I know a lot of folks likely yawned when they heard that an updated version of the mini-game collection that made the Wii a worldwide phenomenon would hit the Wii U eShop in early November, but I wasn't one of them.

Why? Because I absolutely loved the bowling and, especially, the tennis games that were included in the original Wii Sports. In fact, my only quibble with the title was that it didn't allow players to compete against others on line. Wii Sports Club fixes that issue and also introduces Miiverse functionality and a few other bells and whistles.

The question I'm asking myself (over and over and over again) as a result of all of the above: when am I finally going to pick up a Wii U so I can play both of these games?

Sadly, I think that's not going to happen until Christmas, at the earliest. I'll tell you what, though--whenever I do bring home a Wii U, I'll be bringing home copies of Wii Fit U and Wii Sports Club along with it (or I'll be buying them off of the eShop as soon as the system's hooked up--should Wii Sports Club not receive a boxed release).

How about you? Are any of you thrilled--or at least mildly interested--in either Wii Fit U or Wii Sports Club?

Yes, the amount of stuff tracked by the pedometer is really impressive, IMO--and many people are saying it's worth the price of admission itself (if not more).

As for Wii Sports Club: I'll certainly be picking up tennis as soon as I'm able. Likely bowling, too. Probably not the others, although golf is a possibility, too.

I really have to wonder if Nintendo won't also release this at retail at a later date, a la Wii Fit U. If not, they're kind of leaving money on the table, IMO, as not only will they limit sales by making it digital-only, but I have a feeling many people will completely pass on boxing and baseball, especially, should they be forced to buy them via the eShop (as opposed to buying the who she-bang for, say $20 or $30 via retail).

I actually had fun with Wii Fit, and I remember I got really into it, burning a certain amount of calories every day.

It's pretty good for yoga, but the truth is if you really want to improve your body it's a pretty bad option, at the end of the day nothing's going to be as effective as just getting on that treadmill or getting some weights, and I actually think making your hyper-aware of the amount of calories you've burned or how long you've exercised is disencouraging eventually.

I'm going to semi-disagree with the second part of your comment, Josef. Although I will agree that people who seriously want to lose weight or add muscle, etc., should supplement what they do via Wii Fit with other, outside sources of exercise, whether that means jogging, getting on a treadmill, lifting weights, etc.

Personally, I've found a number of the exercises included in Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus to be VERY helpful in building muscle--and I've been lifting weights pretty seriously since I was in college.

Ex: the push-up and side plank. Also, the push-up challenge, the lunge what I believe is call the bridge.

Although I haven't done it in a few months, I've regularly included a day or two a week in my workout routine where I do, say, three sets of 20 push-ups and side planks, with three sets of push-up challenge (usually up to 40) and three sets of lunges interspersed between the push-ups and side planks. If that isn't a workout that will build muscle, cause you to sweat, etc., I don't know what is.

I guess that kind of gets to your point, though--that you have to choose the right exercises. If you just play the mini-games, or do some of the less strenuous exercises, you aren't going to see much of a benefit.

Anyway, the real draw of Wii Fit U for me is that it'll get me back into the Wii Fit swing of things, plus I like how I'll be able to track all sorts of stats and info throughout the day using the Fit Meter.

About this blog

Yep, I'm gay. And I like video games. Old Japanese games and systems are my favorites--the Famicom, PC Engine, original PlayStation and GameBoy, especially--but I like plenty of newer ones, too. If you have similar interests and you don't mind perusing a blog that's got the word gay in its name and is practically slathered in pink, you'll probably enjoy your time here. I'm also on Facebook, Flickr, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter, by the way. Oh, and my Switch Friend Code = SW-5852-5514-6897.